"You don’t have to like me, but you will respect me" - When Arianny Celeste fired back at Khabib Nurmagomedov after criticism

After Khabib Nurmagomedov famously criticized the use of ring girls in the sport of MMA, UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste was very unhappy with the comments made by the Russian and took to Instagram to spread her message.

The UFC Hall of Famer had called the ring girls "useless" and didn't understand how they contributed to the sport. The comments were made during a panel interview and were later translated via Fighting Flashback on YouTube:

"Look, I don’t want to offend anyone. Ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts. What is their function? You can show that it is the second round on the screen. Do they develop a sport? Or they help people to see that it is the second round now? What are they doing? Tell me, please."

Watch the full translated interview here:

Arianny Celeste clearly wasn't happy with the Russian's comments about ring girls and made a long post on her social media about the controversial topic. Despite not enjoying the comments, Celeste made it clear that in general, ring girls are unfazed by statements like these:

I’ve work over 15 years in this industry and learned it’s easier just to simply NOT CARE.

You can call us useless, but to people like me who have worked this hard, it slips right off my shoulders . My life is too good to be unhappy. You don’t have to like me, but you will respect me.

Check out her Instagram post below:

Khabib Nurmagomedov didn't target Arianny Celeste in particular, with his comments being about the ring girl concept as a whole. However, Celeste made it clear via her post that she has other means of making money and feels that the UFC ring girls aide in promotion for the sport and company.

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Does Khabib Nurmagomedov's Eagle Fighting Championship have ring girls?

No, in a 2021 interview Khabib Nurmagomedov unsurprisingly revealed that he doesn't want ring girls at the Eagle Fighting Championship events. His comments were much more reserved than the first time, simply stating that he made the decision in his promotion and Dana White made his own decision too:

I have a promotion. I have my own promotion Eagle Fighting Championship and someone ask about why there's no ring girls there. I say because I think there's no reason. It's my opinion.

Some people don't agree with this, but who cares? I don't care, because I have my opinion. Because this is my promotion and I make decision. Not Dana or not other people, you know?

Watch the full interview below:

Khabib Nurmagomedov didn't apologize for the original comments made about ring girls, but stated that it was just his opinion. The Russian also went on to say that he doesn't judge Dana White for having ring girls as he respects his right to do so.

It's unlikely that Nurmagomedov will change his mind anytime soon, especially within Eagle FC, but at least the former UFC champion eventually responded to his critics.